Okorocha worried, urges support for Rotimi Akeredolu

‘Reach out to Tinubu or forget victory at polls’

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has expressed worry about the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu winning the election.

Okorocha spoke yesterday when he visted the Deji of Akure, Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, in his palace.

He said the APC was not happy that it was losing some of its members to other parties.

The governor, however, said he was hopeful that the party would win the election.

“We are not jittery. But we are concerned about the losses. I will call on the aggrieved members to please come back to the party,” he said.

He explained that there was no division among the APC governors.

The governor attributed the internal crisis that arose from Akeredolu’s emergance as the party’s candidate to a mere disagreement that should not be taken seriously.

He said: “Sometimes, disagreements arise due to a break in communication. If the right communication had been applied, this situation would have been avoided.

“Everybody is still with Akeredolu. Bola Tinubu is still with him and the governors of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun and his counterparts, Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) are also with him. The problem is that, like in all families, we had a communication gap.”

He said the APC would be victorious at the polls, despite the strength of the candidates of other participating parties.

Okorocha told the monarch that he was in his palace as the chairman of the APC Governors Forum to assure him that the party was united.

He informed the monarch that President Muhammadu Buhari would visit Ondo on Saturday to clear any doubt that there was a division in the party.

The monarch promised that Akure people would support Akeredolu to win the election.

Meanwhile, the embattled Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Timi Frank, has warned that the party may lose the election, if it failed to reconcile with Tinubu.

Frank, who spoke in Abuja yesterday at a press conference, said the crisis of confidence rocking the party in the state had pitted its leaders against one another.

The deputy national publicity secretary, who was recently suspended by the party, said he had taken the matter to court to stop the suspension.

He blamed the leadership of the party for not conducting a stakeholders meeting since February, to deliberate on critical issues affecting the party.